Fourth Sunday of Easter
Memorial of Saint Mark. He shared the responsibility of witnessing and preaching the Gospel with Barnabas and Paul and then with Peter. He is the author of the first written Gospel.

First Reading

Acts 4,8-12

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, addressed them, 'Rulers of the people, and elders! If you are questioning us today about an act of kindness to a cripple and asking us how he was healed, you must know, all of you, and the whole people of Israel, that it is by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, and God raised from the dead, by this name and by no other that this man stands before you cured. This is the stone which you, the builders, rejected but which has become the cornerstone. Only in him is there salvation; for of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved.'

Psalmody

Psalm 117

Antiphon

Eternal is the mercy of the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love endures for ever.

Let the sons of Israel say :
'His love endures for ever.'

Let the sons of Aaron say :
'His love endures for ever.'

Let those who fear the Lord say :
'His love endures for ever.'

I called the Lord in my distress;
he answered and feed me.

The Lord is at my side; I do not fear.
What can man do against m?

The Lord is at my side as my helper:
I shall look down on my foes.

It is better to take refuge in the lord
than to trust in men:

It is better to take refuge in the lord
than to trust in prices.

The nations all encompassed me;
in the lord's name I crushed them.

They compassed me, compassed me about;
in the Lord's name I crushed them.

They compassed me about like bees;
they blazed like a fire among thorns.
In the Lord's name I crushed them.

I was thrust down, thrust down and falling
but the Lord was my helper.

The Lord is my strength and my song;
he was my saviour.

There are shouts of joy and victory
in the tents of the just.

The Lord's right hand has triumphed;
his right hand raised me.

The Lord's right hand had triumphed;
I shall not die, I shall live
and recount his deed.

I was punished, I was punished by the Lord,
but not doomed to die.

Open to me the gates of holiness :
I will enter and give thanks.

This is the Lord's own gates
where the just may enter.

I will thank you for you have answered
and you are my saviour.

The stone which the builders rejected
has become the corner stone.

This is the work of the Lord,
a marvel in our eyes.

This day was made by the Lord;
we rejoice and are glad.

O Lord, grant us salvation;
O Lord, grant success.

Blessed in the name of the Lord
is he who comes

We bless you from the house of the Lord;
the Lord God is our light.

Go forward in procession with branches
even to the altar.

You are my God, I thank you.
My God, I praise you.

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love endures forever.

Second Reading

1 John 3,1-2

You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God's children -- which is what we are! The reason why the world does not acknowledge us is that it did not acknowledge him. My dear friends, we are already God's children, but what we shall be in the future has not yet been revealed. We are well aware that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is.

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 10,11-18

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and runs away, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; he runs away because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and I must lead these too. They too will listen to my voice, and there will be only one flock, one shepherd. The Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will, and as I have power to lay it down, so I have power to take it up again; and this is the command I have received from my Father.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

The Gospel reports the second part of the passionate speech with which Jesus presents himself as the "good shepherd." He also uses the image of the gate where the sheep he gathers, guides and defends even at the cost of his own life' s cost enter. He clarifies: "The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away-and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep." It is the clear separation between the shepherd and the hired hand, between those who love God and the neighbour and those who love themselves. The distance is clarified by Jesus with the example of the hired hand who, seeing the wolf coming, flees and abandons the sheep.
The result is a kind of plot between the flee of the hired hand and the destructive action of the wolf, between the abandonment or indifference of the hired hand and the wicked violence of evil. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." The entire Gospel wants to show the bond between the abandoned, tired and shepherdless crowds and Jesus who is moved by them. It is a love that urged him to get out of himself and even of "his own" who often wanted to force him to stay in the usual fold. Jesus says, "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?" (Lk 15:4). Jesus urges everyone to go out towards the weak, to go to the bottom, to the most extreme peripheries, or according to the eastern tradition, "descending into hell," in the hells of this world so that all those who need help can be saved. The risen Lord involves us in the journey of his lowering and he makes us shepherds, guardians of our brothers and sisters, especially the weak.
In a time full of wolves who kidnap and destroy and of hired hands - among them the false prophets who deceive so many people in the world - together with the great mass of indifferent people, the Lord asks of us a new passion: to be with him "shepherds" of the crowds of our time. Let us not put stops and excuses, perhaps saying that we are only "sheep." The Gospel tells us that the shepherd is a sheep who has learned how to love, who has begun to have Jesus' same feelings, his own love. That is why Jesus says to the disciples: "I send you like lambs among wolves." And the lambs are softened sheep who have widened their hearts, who see beyond their own habits, their own closures and who, together with Jesus, also say: "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd."